Naruto: a Samurai's Influence
by PanzerSchreck
Summary: What differences would there be in Naruto's life if Naruto had an encounter with a retired samurai? With a (somewhat) different skill set Naruto and his two friends Shikamaru and Hinata will encounter many obstacles on Naruto's path to greatness. (possible NaruXHina if i get comfortable writing mushy stuff, we'll see.) RATED T FOR VIOLENCE AND SOME HARSH LANGUAGE
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters are property of Kishimoto Masashi and I do not claim ownership of it in any way. I do however own the plot of this story.

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Chapter 1: Retiring in Konoha

The cart slowly rolled into the Land of Fire and out of Iwa carrying multiple people all going to different destinations within the land of fire. As Takeda looked at his fellow travelers he saw a family of four and a couple of old farmers that he guessed were retiring just like him. '_hmph seems like I'm not the only one on this cart that's old_.' Takeda thought. '_I wonder if they like fishing? It is a great hobbie after all and there are so many varieties of fish_!' In his mind Takeda continued rambling on about fishing which was ordinarily normal for him, but this was different. It was a subconscious attempt at keeping his mind off of what he left behind in the Land of Iron. He knew that he would miss his home greatly if he left to go live in Konoha for retirement, but he also knew that if he didn't go he would be pressured to come out of retirement and join the ranks of his samurai comrades once again. For he was the legendary Takeda Matsumoto, samurai extraordinaire, master of the blade, brilliant commander of the third division, a true inspiration to all samurai. However an old man is something he could now add to that list. But his old comrades didn't seem to think so. All they saw was the Takeda of his youth, not the old man who just wanted to live the rest of his life in peace. So he set out to Konoha to start a new and more peaceful life. Just like he had always planned for if he actually survived his time as a samurai. But little did Takeda know that although he would gain peace, it would be short lived thanks to a certain blond academy student.

**TWO DAYS LATER**

As the cart pulled into its final destination of Konoha. Takeda couldn't help but notice how peaceful and serene looking the village was. At least until he noticed that the hokage monument had graffiti on it and he saw who was most likely the culprit running on rooftops to get away from a couple of leaf chuunin. '_I have to admit that that kid has either got a pair or is too stupid to realize the consequences of his actions. Or maybe it's a combination of the two… Either way I should help them catch the kid._' "Hey driver can you wait here? I'm going to go help them catch that little troublemaker." Takeda asked in a way that was more an order than a question. "Of course I can sir but aren't you a little old to do that?" he asks as Takeda leaps away to join in the pursuit. "Well nevermind."

"HA HA HA you'll never catch me!" Naruto screamed with glee. "The hell we won't you little god damn demon!" "Hey you're just jealous that you're not as cool as me!" The boy yells while looking back before suddenly hitting a wall. "Oww, since when is there a wall here?" He grunts before looking up and realizing something about this "wall". It was actually an extremely old man that was enormous! He was about 6 feet and 3 inches tall with extremely broad shoulders and HUGE muscles all over his body. Naruto didn't even realize that he had wasted time gawking at the size of the man until the chuunin had caught up to him. Then the old man said in a deep voice, "I believe that this young man was the one who painted the…. Umm….. well let's call it art on the hokage monument. Am I correct my kind sirs?" One of the chuunin pointed a finger at Naruto and replied with contempt, "Hell yeah you are! This little demon spawn is the one. Now come with us you little bastard! Before we force you to." He said while practically growling the last part. "Now come on I'm sure that the boy isn't all that bad. It is just a joke after all. So lighten up a little bit." Takeda replied in the defense of Naruto. Takeda could tell by the look in the boy's eyes that he was just doing this for attention, Takeda had at one point in his life done the very same things and had the same expression. Since it had once been a coping mechanism of his own, Takeda knew all too well that it was a mask of joy and an expression of misery and neglect. Thanks to Naruto's almost of perfect mask of emotions Takeda could tell he had been neglected for quite a hefty portion of his life. He continued to think of whether or not the chances of the boy going through the same things he did as a child were higher than if it was something else. before his thought process was disrupted. "Why are you defending the brat old man!?" the chuunin who had previously remained quiet yelled at him. Takeda was about to respond but decided not to when another chuunin with a scar going across his face appeared. "Naruto Uzumaki! You are in big trouble young man, not only did you skip out on class but you also put graffiti on the hokage monument! We are going back to class and your detention afterwards will be to clean the monument. Do you understand?" "Yes Iruka-sensei I understand." Naruto dejectedly mumbled. "Good now come on and hurry up or we'll be late." Naruto and Iruka then left behind the retired samurai and the two shocked chuunin to return to the academy. '_well isn't that an interesting child_' Takeda thought as he returned to the cart. Meanwhile the chuunin who gave chase were fuming about how the old man and Iruka intervened in THEIR task while going to give the hokage their reports on the situation.

Later on that night after Takeda had gotten everything moved into his new house he was thinking back on the day's events and his thoughts continually drifted back to the blond boy. He still was amazed at how the boy who wasn't even a genin managed to elude two chuunin nin until he intervened. '_Th__e answer must be that the boy has a lot of potential and is quite skilled. Or the legendary nin of Konoha aren't as good as they say_.' He continued to think about the boy and and then wondered what the boy would be like if he taught him until he realized a problem. The whole entire reason he even met the boy was because he wanted to retire from all things that involve being a samurai. And training the boy certainly would get him involved in it again. So it training him would defeat the whole entire purpose of him being in Konoha. But at the same time he still couldn't help but feel like he should train the boy. '_Ahh never mind that I'm retired. I shouldn't be thinking about things like this anyway. I should be thinking about things like napping and fishing, I should try out all the lakes around here to see which is the active when it comes to fish_.' Takeda then looked at the clock to see the time. It was 9 pm and he suddenly realized just how tired he really was. So he brushed his teeth, got in his pj's, and hopped into to bed. Leaving things like thinking for later on because right now he just wanted to sleep. before he fell into the blissful pit that is sleep he thought one last thing. '_Now this is the life. I never knew retirement would be this relaxing_.'

Just about the time Takeda called it a night our blond hero was walking home from Ichiraku's after Iruka had taken him there. '_Wow that was so much fun! I can't believe Iruka-sensei actually took me out to eat! Nobody's ever been that nice to me before. Well except for old man Tuechi and Ayame... But still! I can't believe he did that_!' At the moment Naruto felt like he was on cloud nine and nothing could ruin his enlightenment. Except for the silently amassing group of people who were about to partake in the "fox hunt". They continued to slowly creep closer and closer to Naruto while he was completely oblivious due to his cheery mood and thoughts. Ever so slowly they moved in like a cheetah ready to pounce on its prey. All moved in perfect unison while another group waited up ahead to surprise and corner Naruto. Although most of those in the group were confident about the plan others were worried that someone would alarm Naruto. If someone did it would ruin the plan and nobody wanted that. so they continued to stalk forward until finally they were close enough to Naruto for the leader of the group to attack with his knife. Naruto didn't notice until the last second and got stabbed in his back. He grunted then puched the man and ran off into the direction of the next group. Wicked smiles formed on the faces of those chasing the boy. The hunt had begun.

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hey guys hows it going? I hope you enjoyed the story so far and wait for the upcoming chapters! I'll do my best not to dissapoint you with crappy chapters. Although they will probably be short like this one. Please review and critique my story because it's my first one on here. I would really appreciate it. Anyways have a good day and peace out.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters are property of Kishimoto Masashi and I do not claim ownership of it in any way. I do however own the plot of this story.

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"**BLAH BLAH BLAH"** = Kyuubi/Kyuubified Naruto speaking '_Blah blah blah' _ = somebody thinking

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Chapter 2: The Hunt

Although Naruto had only started sweating a few minutes ago he was already drenched in his own sweat. He could only keep running from and evading these people for a little bit longer. Unlike usual this group of "hunters" had quite a few shinobi in it. Making his escape harder due to the jutsus being cast and the seemingly never ending waves of kunai and shuriken heading his way. Adding extensive dodging and blocking to the list of things he had to do to escape and survive. So this time around Naruto definitely had his work cut out for him this time. '_Okay so I need to ditch them somehow…. Ah hah of course! I should split them up and have some chase after a clone!_' Naruto then made the proper hand signs and muttered "clone jutsu." There was a poof and Naruto turned his head to look at his doppelganger whilst sporting his trademark grin. Or at least until he actually looked at the clone and saw a blob on the ground that barely even resembled him. '_Okay come on Naruto think! That didn't work so come up with something else!_' Two kunai wizzed by his head disrupting his thoughts. '_Aw screw thinking things through! It'll only get me killed faster! I need to focus only on what's going on around me._' Another kunai flew by while making a sizzling noise. Naruto dismissed the sound and he easily dodged the kunai since it was aimed more ahead of him than actually at him. He didn't notice that though and yelled out, "Whoever threw that last kunai has crappy aim! How do you expect to kill me if you keep on throwing like tha…" BOOM! An explosion suddenly rocked the earth as Naruto's body flew through the air.

Takeda was wide awake as soon as he heard the explosion go off. He didn't know exactly what was going on but he knew that he wasn't going to stand idly by while it happened. With his battle hardened sixth sense kicking in Takeda hurried over to his closet and pulled out his katana. He then hurled himself out the door and towards the action.

'_Oh shit oh shit oh shit, this is really bad! Now I'm injured and I'm also really tired! But I can't just stop though. I need to keep running from these guys!_' Naruto dragged himself off of the debris littered ground and continued running away from the crowd. He then ducked into an alley and swiftly dodged a kick aimed at him. '_Why me? Why does this always happen to me, what did I do to deserve this?_' A fireball than began to maneuver through the air and managed to hit Naruto. Adding third degree burns to the list of injuries he had sustained from the chase. '_I need some help because I can't even hope to take down all of these people on my own. Fighting all of them would be suicidal!_' But then a grim realization came to his head, one he desperately wanted to get rid of. He had no other options left. Standing his ground was the only thing that he could do at this point. There were people lying in wait for him wherever he went so no matter where he went he was in danger. Making it so that no matter what he did the outcome would remain the same. He, Naruto Uzumaki, was going to die today. '_I wonder what being dead is like. Is there really an afterlife like they say? Or is it just like a blissful sleep you fall into and never wake up from? Maybe I'll even be reincarnated into an animal or something like that. Might as well find out I guess._' Once he finished that train of thoughts Naruto then did the only thing he could do. He stopped running, pulled out two of his kunai, turned towards the crowd, and charged. To say that the people in the crowd were surprised was an understatement.

Takeda knew things had just escalated very quickly when he realized that the fighting grounds had stopped shifting and now remained in a singular place. So he quickened his pace and looked around to see if any shinobi were around to possibly help lend him aide when he got there. However, no matter how much he scanned the surrounding areas he didn't see and nin around. Nor did he sense their chakra either. 'Maybe they all already got there. I mean it's pretty obvious something is going on so that must be it.' Although that was the logical answer Takeda couldn't get rid of this nagging feeling in his gut that it wasn't the case.

Naruto's body was it shambles. He had broken multiple bones all throughout his body and severely bruised all of the rest. Along with the broken bones Naruto had deep cuts and lacerations running across his gut, legs, arms, chest, head, back, you name a body part, and a wound was there. But strangely enough the young boy wasn't dead yet and it was confusing him to no end. It just didn't make sense how he was still alive. Any normal person would be dead by now. But then again he was no ordinary person, and the newly discovered angry voice in his head only confirmed that. Therefore Naruto was a mess in every aspect at the moment. That didn't stop him from fighting though. If anything it actually made him fight harder because he had made a promise to himself to go down swinging. It was a promise Naruto had no plans of breaking anytime soon. His body thought otherwise though. With every blow given and taken it pleaded more and more to just rest until finally his legs gave in and he fell to the ground. '_No! Must get….. back up… I have to keep FIGHTING!_' Naruto hurriedly thought as the swarm of people moved in on their downed prey. Naruto quickly dragged himself off of the ground while the herd of people then launched their offensive. The first nin arrived and threw a punch at Naruto. Naruto ducked under the punch and gave an uppercut to the man. Another came with kunai and struck out at Naruto. He blocked the attack with a kunai of his own and and parried the second strike with his other kunai. Naruto sidestepped and jabbed at the man. Causing him to cry out in pain and collapse onto the ground as the blade sunk into his flesh. At the same time a few shinobi in the back of the crowd launched jutsus at him. The first jutsu to arrive was a water bullet which hit Naruto in the stomach leaving his defenses open for the next jutsu. It ended up missing though because Naruto narrowly avoided it by jumping out of the way. He then dropped down to the ground and preformed a windmill kick aimed at a few of the approaching civilians. After landing a few good punches on them while they were on the ground he moved on to the next opponent. Who he then unleashed a torrent of punches and kicks upon. Since it was a shinobi he attacked they were able to dodge or block all the attacks. The shinobi then shunshined in a swirl of leaves to the backside of Naruto and went to stab him in the back. But Naruto was fast enough to dodge the possibly fatal blow and delivered a kick to the gut of the man. More people moved in around Naruto and all attacked at once. Making sure that the boy who had fought so well would not be able to fight anymore after their blows. At first Naruto was managing all of them but after a few more hits his body couldn't take the abuse and collapsed onto the ground. Leaving him vulnerable to all of the attacks launched at him. While Naruto took the beating his vision started fading to black. But before everything went black he swore that he saw the same old man from earlier rushing towards the scene.

Takeda couldn't believe his eyes as he came to the scene. All of the commotion had been caused by a bunch of villagers all trying to harm the little blond haired boy he saw earlier in the day. The most remarkable thing though was that the boy was alive and actually holding his ground. Takeda knew it wouldn't last though just by looking at the boy. His once orange jumpsuit was now stained red from his own blood while at a few points in his body he could see bones poking out of his skin. The whole left side of his back was a deep crimson scab from where he had presumably been burnt and every time the boy moved he noticed a slight limp. Despite all of this though when he saw the boy's eyes he all he could see was cold blooded determination in its finest form. But determination alone wouldn't get the boy out of this alive though so Takeda continued on towards the action. However just as he arrived the worst possible thing happened. The boy had been overrun and had fallen. So with a renewed vigor Takeda started slicing his way through what was left of the crowd with such finesse and skill that even the Seven Ninja Swordsman of the Mist wouldn't stand a chance against him. One by one the members of the crowd either began to fall or run away. As Takeda continued pushing on towards Naruto he left a trail of dead and injured in his wake. Causing even the toughest nin there to judge whether or not it was a good idea to fight the old man. This unfortunately didn't cause them to retreat though; it just caused them to delay attacking long enough for Takeda to reach Naruto.

Takeda started to panic once he got to Naruto. The situation was just as he had assumed. The boy was dying, and fast. So Takeda took advantage of the momentary pause in the battle to try to shake Naruto awake. He would for obvious reasons, have a much better chance of surviving if he was conscious. Plus Takeda didn't really know what else to do. So he continued to desperately shake the young boy. When Naruto's eyes started to flutter a huge wave of relief spread over Takeda as most of his stress went away. But a sudden wave a pain then coursed its way throughout his body. Takeda looked down to at the source of his pain and saw his own blood squirt out of his body while a katana protruded from his stomach. '_Well damn, that's not good at all_.' Takeda disgruntledly thought before sliding off of the sword and collapsing onto the ground.

Naruto awoke to see the very same man from before crouching over him shaking him awake. He was relieved until he saw a shinobi stealthily approach from behind him though. Naruto tried to speak but his throat was so dry that he could barely even breathe, let alone speak. So he could only watch in silent horror as the man who went out of his way to help him was stabbed in the back and collapsed onto the ground. "Well now that the old man is out of action it's time for you to die demon. But let me ask you this. Do you want to die now? Or do you want me to kill the old hag before you?" At those words something deep inside Naruto's mind snapped. He for once in his life truly hated someone, and he wasn't going to let them kill the old man. **"YES KITSUNE I AM VERY PLEASED WITH YOU. GIVE IN TO THE HATRED AND USE MY POWER TO KILL EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM! DO NOT LET THEM HARM THE OLD MAN! USE MY POWER AND DO IT NOW! KILL THEM ALL!"** The voice in his head screamed at him until Naruto finally gave in to the demands. A strange red chakra then started to seep from Naruto's body. At the same time his canines elongated and his finger nails grew while a red tail made entirely of the seemingly evil chakra started to sway behind his body. His wounds started to close while his bones started realigning themselves to their original positions. Naruto then gave a feral smile and said in an abnormally deep voice, **"Don't you dare even think about touching that man. Or every single one of you will DIE TODAY!" **At that exact moment just about every person in the immediate vicinity shit in their pants.

Takeda silently watched from the ground as he witnessed the boy slaughter everyone around him. It all made sense to him now. They were attacking him because the boy had the Nine Tailed Fox within him. There was no other way to explain the chakra the boy was emitting, or the reason why the villagers were attacking him. Takeda also now knew why the boy had used the emotional mask that he himself once wore. The villagers had obviously shunned and neglected him his whole life because they couldn't tell the difference between Naruto and the Kyuubi. Takeda knew the difference between them though. The fact that the boy was doing all of this to protect him was enough proof for him. Further confirmation was how the red chakra slowly started to recede back into the boy's body once he had finished off the last of his opponents. He then slowly walked over to Takeda and asked him if he was ok. Takeda response was to cough up blood and say "I'm dying right now. My old body can take that kind of abuse anymore." Naruto only nodded and asked "So what's your name old man, I think it's only right for me to know it since you saved my hide." "My name is Takeda Matsumoto, and yours is?" Takeda questioned while drawing out the s sound in is. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki… Are you really gonna die?" Naruto said the last part so quietly that it could barely even be considered a whisper. "Yes I know that I'm going to die today Naruto. It is inevitable, but strangely enough I don't regret what I've done today even one bit though. But as an old man's dying gift I do have a request to make for you Naruto." "Yeah what is it old man?" Tears started forming in Naruto's eyes as he struggled to speak. "I want you to persevere and overcome all the obstacles in your life Naruto. Never let the hard times bring you down, and find good friends to help you through them. Another thing I ask of you is to adopt the Bushido Naruto. It is the samurai's code of honor and conduct and it will always serve you well as a warrior. I know this from experience." A light rain started at that moment. "And finally I want you to take my sword. It has served me well over the years and I want you to have it when I'm gone." Naruto speechlessly nodded as he grabbed the katana and started crying. "Thank you Takeda." Takeda then moved his hand to wipe the tears from Naruto's eyes. "Don't cry about me Naruto. It's unnecessary and will only add pain to your life." After having said everything he found to be important Takeda then closed his eyes and let the soothing darkness overcome him. 'Well there goes my retirement.' Takeda thought with a smile as he was then enveloped in the calming warmth and darkness that death provides. Meanwhile the light rain then turned into a downpour, it was as if the sky was crying along with Naruto at the loss of such a great man.

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Well now that the story is out of the way I just wanted to thank you guys that have followed and or favorited my story. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and continue waiting for more of them. yadda yadda yadda, blah blah blah, I can't think of anything else to say so thanks for reading and have a good day!


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